Short and Long term glycemic control among Type 2 DM patients in a resource-limited setting.

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease condition and one of public health importance in Africa and indeed globally. Its potential complications can be mitigated by tight control of blood glucose, achievable by both short and long term glucose monitoring. The values of these measures are expected to both be within target, but for some reasons, sometimes these values become discordant.

Objective: This study is aimed at determining the pattern of short and long term glycemic control prevalent among Type 2 diabetic patients in the study environment and the extent of the discordance between them.

Methods: A cross-sectional study carried out at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Research participants comprised consenting adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin were used to assess short and long term glycemic control respectively.

Results: The study included 148 participants (60 males and 88 females). Glycated haemoglobin (HbAlc) correlated significantly with Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG) (P < 0.00001). Prevalence of optimal long and short term glycemic control was 42.6% and 35.8% respectively. The proportion of individuals with concordance between FPG and HbA1c was 116 (78.4%) while 32 (21.6%) had discordant values.

Conclusion: Glycemic control, both long and short terms, was sub-optimal among participants. Discordance observed between HbA1c and FPG creates some dilemma in clinical decision making, and calls for guidelines and uniformity in the clinical management of these conditions.